JOE ARIBO has highlighted the importance of Steven Gerrard's winning mentality on the Rangers squad as he reflects on the first success of his Ibrox career.

Rangers ended their long wait for top flight silverware last season by clinching an unbeaten Premiership campaign and delivering a 55th league title to supporters.

Aribo would play an increasingly influential part in that achievement as the season unfolded and he ended his second term in Scottish football with eight goals to his credit.

Glasgow Times: Steven Gerrard

And the 24-year-old believes the influence of Gerrard cannot be understated after Ibrox boss finally got his hands on the silverware at the third time of asking in Glasgow.

Aribo told the Rangers official souvenir magazine: “He has been so important to me.

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"He’s got a winning mentality and he’s been there and done it.

“He knows what it takes and understands it, so for us to see such a big figure day in and day out is just so important for us.

 

 

“At the start of the season, I set myself individual targets and as a team we also set targets for ourselves.

“Personally, I wanted to get a certain number of goals and assists but with the team we knew what we needed to do as well.

Glasgow Times: Joe Aribo of Rangers scores their side\'s third goal during the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership match between Rangers and Dundee United at Ibrox

“We wanted to win the title and hopefully get as far as we could in Europe. There was more pressure on us to do that than before.

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“We knew how important it was to win the title and we had to do, it was make or break.

"At the start of the season we said it was the last dance and that’s definitely what we had to do.”